All right so I'm 16 years old. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't drink alot of coffee. I've never ever experienced hypnogogia ! I've read tons of articles about it but I just can't seem to get it. Apparently to some people it just comes naturally but not me. Can somebody give me tips or steps or whatever you do? Thanks !

OK, i haven't had sleep paralysis either, but i know how to do it, all you have to do is to set your alarm clock REALLY early(like 5am) and when you wake up don't move a muscle just lay still til your alarm stops, id advice adjusting the settings so that is only buzzes like one time and then stops. Ok now just lay still in the position your in and eventually in a couple of minutes your body will be paralyzed, this can be quite scary Ive heard(which is what is keeping me from doing it), when your in your paralysis try to remember the dream you had before you woke up from your alarm, imagine spinning into that dream.

That is from what i've heard the easiest way, don't take my word for it tough as i've never actually experienced it for myself, but ill get to it soon enough

Shadow wrote:All right so I'm 16 years old. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't drink alot of coffee. I've never ever experienced hypnogogia ! I've read tons of articles about it but I just can't seem to get it. Apparently to some people it just comes naturally but not me. Can somebody give me tips or steps or whatever you do? Thanks !

Can you recall your dreams right after waking up from sleep? Hypnagogia is mostly explained as a phenomina you experience when you're about to fall to sleep, but I believe hypnagogia is an onset of REM activity in the brain (or lingering REM activity upon waking up). I don't know if it is true that Hypnagogia and REM activity is connected atall, but with my experience, this is how I understand and would explain it.

Assuming you can recall dreams and have an idea what I'm talking about, can I ask how you experience falling to sleep when you do? What goes through your head and such? Do you easily fall asleep every time or does something keep you awake for a while?

Well most of the time I can usually recall 1 dream after awakening then I write in my dream journal. So I lay down I put my hands at my side strech out my legs and don't move. Usually my thought are racing so I'll just count down from 1000. Every time I usually get from 1000 to 0. After that my thoughts aern't racing anymore. I then just think about absolutely nothing and listen to my breathing. Then I guess I just drift off after that. I don't hear any noises or see anything except black.

Shadow wrote:Then I guess I just drift off after that. I don't hear any noises or see anything except black.

When I was younger, I pondered about that moment when you would fall asleep and stop remembering anything untill you woke up. I now tribute hypnagogia to be the phenomenon that pulls you into a very short dream, after which you descent into the first, dreamless sleep.

It's possible you can fall asleep without Hypnagogia atall (people are different). It's also possible that it's so subtle to you, you can't readily make it out. Counting down from 1000 seems like something that would take a long time and frankly, it is very tenacious of you I deal with racing thoughts aswell, but I've learned to quiet them over time through a simple meditation technique. Perhaps you could try guided meditation that allows you to send your thoughts away "on vacation" rather than using your consciousness to strictly count down from 1000. My hypnotherapist also told me something; "If you give the brain an impossible task, it will give up the fastest way it can - by falling asleep". He adviced me to first relax my body in bed, then allow my thoughts to fly away on vacation. Then I would envision the most plain and boring stairway I could imagine, and go down 1 step with each exhale. The stairway is neverending, so it's just one step after the other, and again and again.. Sooner or later, I start getting strange visions or sounds. You could try these things if you want

In any event, you can still achieve lucidity in dreams (because you dream). All my lucidities thus far (4 in total) were DILDs (Dream Induced Lucid Dreams), due to reality checks. I have yet to try WILDs, so I don't know if this will be more or less easy for you.

Hi, I'm just reading this thread. I'll give a little input from my own experience on hypnogogia. I began meditating - just for stress reduction/sleep - many years ago. I didn't notice hypo images until about 2 years later. I then began some research to find out what it was. I think I was probably seeing HI earlier but not paying attention to them until they got vivid and pronounced. Keep at it - they'll come, just don't try too hard, or stress about it as I have found it keeps the images from appearing.

Here's something you might try. When you go to bed tonight put seeing HI in the back of your mind and concentrate on relaxing. You have to quiet your thoughts as well - which usually happens when really relaxed. I'll bet if you somewhat forget about seeing the HI, you'll start seeing them. I had two friends that had the same problem, they finally said "to heck with it" and that is when they starting seeing images. It's worth a try.

Using the WILD technique is a good way to see the HI stage which often is very short. Using WILD, I have been able to prolong HI somewhat and have had quite a few great experinces with it. If I don't use WILD, the experiences wth HI are fairly limited for me.

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? Morpheus

RosenVitae wrote:You have to quiet your thoughts as well - which usually happens when really relaxed. I'll bet if you somewhat forget about seeing the HI, you'll start seeing them. I had two friends that had the same problem, they finally said "to heck with it" and that is when they starting seeing images. It's worth a try.

Ya your right. I put alot of effort into acheiving HI. This happens with lucid dreams to. I'll try so hard then one day I'll do nothing and then bam i'm lucid. I'll get it eventually !

Hi Shadow one's brain experiences hypnagogia every or almost every night. the more complex HI blend into NREM dreams. The normal sleep pattern for humans is: HI; followed by NREM dreams; followed by dreamless sleep; followed by rem muscle atonia followed by REM dreams. you're just falling asleep too fast, losing consciousness before the onset of HI.

I might or might not be able to help you experience them. Have you ever looked at a blank piece of paper, clay or stone and suddenly imagined an image (almost everyone has, so I assume you have). Assuming your answer is yes, your brain was in an alpha wave state when you did. HI occur in the next most relaxed/ slow brain state- the theta wave state, so do NREM dreams and REM dreams. HI are essentially a more vivid images that one can actually see and are sometimes even more vivid than real things one sees. If you can relax enough with your eyes closed and just letting one brain supply images, as when one looks at a blank piece of paper one should be able to see them. I would first try to see them when you're tired and about to go to sleep anyway, as your brain will be more relaxed and slowing down naturally.

"There is only one God and his name is Death.And there is only one thing we say to death "not today"- Syrio Forel